Commissioner Thomas Grund drinks too much, hardly sleeps – and when he does, he has nightmares. He has actually returned to his hometown of Paderborn to tackle these problems. However, the very first murder case he must solve in Paderborn throws him off balance. The victim was a school friend: a shot to the back of the head, the skull blown apart, the feet horrifically mutilated, and next to the body, a rosary left by the murderer. The clues lead the commissioner back to his school days at a Catholic boys' boarding school. What he had wanted to forget, but which has shaped his entire life, the abuse by a priest, soon plays a crucial role in solving the case. Grund was not the only victim of the priest. Apparently, the murderer is also targeting other former students of the boarding school, turning the investigation into a race against time.